From left, University of Vermont College of Medicine Class of 2017 members John McLaren, Christopher Meserve, Joseph Miller, Jacqueline Wade, Sierra Trejos, Danielle Leahy take part in outdoor wilderness medicine team building activities during their medical school orientation on August 13, 2013. (Photo by Raj Chawla, UVM Medical Photography)

Their journey has already been long and trying. Initially among more than 5,000 applicants, they each reached the next milestone as one of 640 interviewees and can now count themselves among a selective group of 115 students in the University of Vermont College of Medicine’s Class of 2017. These newest medical students began training to become doctors – and saw their first patient – on Monday, August 12, 2013.

Representing 19 states, including Vermont, the Class of 2017 includes 58 men and 57 women ranging in age from 21 to 34 years old, and boasts an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.66.

In addition to their first patient interaction, the Class of 2017’s first day of orientation included receiving personal Google tablets and an introduction to Professionalism, Communication and Reflection – a year-long course focused on not only leadership development, professionalism and communication, but also personal reflection, a component designed to prevent professional burnout, which is common in the medical professions. The week’s activities also included an outdoor team-building activity, community service, a session on teamwork in medicine, and finished with an orientation celebration and evening barbeque on Friday, August 16, 2013.

Members of the UVM College of Medicine’s Class of 2017 include:

East Montpelier, Vt. native Sarah Waterman Manning, M.P.A., and her husband and Jericho, Vt. native Will Manning, who said “I do” a short four weeks ago and are believed to be the first married couple to simultaneously attend medical school at UVM. Both accomplished runners – Waterman Manning was among the invited elite at the 2013 Vermont City Marathon, Manning ran for St. Lawrence University, and both coach high school cross country and track teams – the two also paired up to complete UVM’s post-baccalaureate premedical program prior to applying to medical school. Waterman Manning is also the creator of social media site #VTResponse, a post-Irene effort to organize volunteer efforts.

Jericho, Vt., native Brian Till navigated a political path in Washington, D.C., before taking a sharp turn towards medicine and his home state. Following undergraduate internships with Senator Patrick Leahy and the Burlington State's Attorney's office, the Haverford College alumnus moved to Washington, D.C., where he researched foreign policy at the New America Foundation and authored a book of interviews with former heads of state. A surgical ICU volunteer experience at Walter Reed Army Medical Center marked a pivotal change of career direction, and was followed by post-baccalaureate premedical studies and penning two global health articles for The Atlantic.

Caleb Seufert, M.S.P.H., has fond childhood memories of running through the halls of the UVM College of Medicine while his mother juggled medical school and raising two boys.Sharing her vocation, he finished a post-baccalaureate premedical program after college. Cancer research training at the National Institutes of Health, a master’s degree in public health, and research in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia followed, eventually leading him back to the Green Mountain state. “Who we are today and who we will be tomorrow is deeply rooted in the landscape of our medical education,” says Seufert, who saw this transformation in his mother. “She had a dream of becoming a physician and UVM as a school and community fostered her ambition, guiding her to a path that she still walks today.”

Glassblowing figured prominently in Alissa Correll's childhood and adolescence in rural Conway, Mass., where her father maintained a studio. Her exposure to this art, basic engineering and machine shop techniques, along with a community of farmers, craftspeople and small businesses, drew her to UVM and the opportunity to experience rural medicine. A magna cum laude Mount Holyoke College graduate and biology major who published a 2012 breastfeeding study and completed the required coursework to become a practicing birth doula, Correll is interested in public and women's health.

The Class of 2017 begins the first of three levels of the Vermont Integrated Curriculum (VIC) on Monday, August 19, 2013. Level One features basic science information in a clinically relevant context, beginning with medical science fundamentals, followed by a series of organ system-based courses; Level Two features clinical clerkships that emphasize basic principles of clinical medicine, including primary and preventive care; and Level Three provides students with additional responsibilities for patient care including acting internships, emergency medicine, and elective opportunities. In addition, students are required to perform scholarly work through a teaching or research project.